Well drilling machine



Dec. 13, 1938. H H ELWRE 2,139,739

WELL DRILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 9, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INvENToR Howard H. Elmira ms ATI'QRNEY Dec. 13,1938. H. H. ELMIRE WELL DRILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 9, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Howard H. E/ma're i5 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WELL DRILLING MACHINE Howard H. Elmire, Keamy, N. J.

Application February 9, 1937, Serial No. 124,822 8 Claims. (01. 255-11) The invention relates to well drilling machines.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a machine which is simple and rugged in construction and much more efiicient in its 5 operation than machines now in use.

In accordance with the invention less power is utilized to operate the machine and the effective drilling speed is materially increased.

Other objects and advantages will become ap- 1.; parent as this specification proceeds. Referring to the drawings forming a part thereof:

Fig. l is a side elevation showing the well drilling machine in operation, the parts being in the position they would assume with the drilling tools 1.5. at the top of the stroke;

Fig. 2 is a view taken in the same plane as Fig. 1, on a larger scale, with the parts being in the position they would assume at or about the moment of impact of the drilling tools; and

.30 Fig. 3 is a top plan View.

Referring again to said drawings, a rigid double frame is provided which may be of any desired construction. As illustrated it comprises cross beams 5, sills 6, uprights l and 8 and angu- 25 larly disposed reinforcing members 9, l and H,

all suitably secured together.

A cable-storage drum 12 mounted on the frame between the two sides thereof and this drum carries a suitable supply of cable 53. The drum is 3 provided with a conventional form of brake M which is released from time to time to permit more cable to be played out as the tools go deeper into the well.

What is termed a stationary sheave I is 35 mounted on a shaft it which is carried by the angularly disposed reinforcing member 9. The sheave i5 is free to rotate on the shaft 16 but is stationary as far as any actual body displacement is concerned.

The cable 53 passes from the cable-storage drum l2 over the sheave l5 and under a movable sheave H. The movable sheave ll is rotatably mounted on a pin l8 carried by a pair of beams i9, hereafter referred to as the beam 9. The

beam !9 is pivoted at 20 in angularly disposed plates 21 which are carried by a shaft 22 and a cross-member 23 suitably secured to the uprights l. The plates 2| have other openings 24 which may be utilized as pivot points for the beam l9 in 0 order to vary the stroke of the beam. The beam l9 has a shock absorbing element 25 interposed at some convenient place in its length. When the tools hit, at times there may be a tendency to stick. With the sheave rigidly mounted a tre- 55 mendous strain is put on the machine if this occurs. The shock absorbing element 25 will permit the sheave H to move slightly to the left and thus compensate for this shock.

Links 26 are pivoted at one end to the pin i8 and at the other end to a pin 2! carried by another pair of beams 28 which will hereafter be referred to as the beam 28. The beam 28 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 22. The cable 63 passes from under the sheave H to the crown pulley 29 supported by a derrick 39 and thence to the drilling tools diagrammatically illustrated at 3|.

Means are provided for vertically reciprocating the beams l9 and 28 and the sheave I 1. One end of a pitman is pivoted at 36 to the beam 23 and the opposite end is pivoted at 37 to a crank 38 which is in turn secured to a shaft 39. The pitman 35 has a shock absorbing element interposed therein. At times: there may be a tendency of the tools to rebound after impact, causing line whip and undue shock on the machine. Such shocks and line whip will be taken up by the shock absorber 43. The pivot point 36 may be adjusted longitudinally on the beam 28 to vary the stroke.

The shaft 39 has a gear 45 secured thereto and 25 this gear meshes a pinion 42 which is on the shaft 43. A pulley 44 is secured to the outer end of the shaft 43 and a belt 45 passes over this pulley and another one 25 on a shaft 4? which is driven by a suitable motor or engine indicated 30 at 48.

A sprocket '59 is mounted on the shaft 43 and a sprocket chain 5| engages this sprocket and another sprocket 52 secured to the cable-storage drum. I2. The sprocket may be clutched or 35 unclutched from the shaft 43 by a clutch indicated at 53. A similar clutch 54 enables driving connection to be made or broken between the pinion 42 and the shaft 43.

When it is desired to pull the tools for dressing 0 or any other purpose the pinion 42 is unclutched from the shaft 43 and the sprocket 59 is clutched thereto. The brake I4 is released and the too-ls may be raised. After the tools have been lowered into the well and it is desired to resume drilling 4.5 the pinion 42 is clutched to the shaft 43 and the sprocket 59 is unclutched.

The sand reel and its associated parts. and the other mechanism, not pertinent to the invention have not been illustrated in order to preserve 50 clarity and simplicity in the drawings.

In the operation of the device the sheave H, as heretofore stated, is reciprocated in a vertical plane. In the position illustrated in Fig. 1 the sheave I1 is in its-lowest position and the drilling 5 tools 3| are in their upper position. As the parts move to the position of Fig. 2 the tools are dropping and at or about the time the sheave l1 reaches the position of Fig. 2 the tools hit bottom.

Due to the arrangement of the beams 19 and 28 and the link 26 in the downward movement of the sheave I! it moves in a direction away from the stationary sheave l5 and in its upward movement it moves toward the stationary sheave l5. In other words, the sheave I! may be said to have a fore and aft movement in addition to the up and down movement. This movement of the sheave I! and the means for accomplishing it are considered of primary importance. In the conventional drilling apparatus the sheave I! simply moves up and down. When the sheave ll of the invention is moved downwardly and away from the stationary sheave the movement away from the stationary sheave compensates for substantially the equivalent of that much extra downward movement in acting on the cable to raise the tools. Thus, by virtue of this construction, a much shorter crank 38 may be used. It therefore follows that a considerable saving in power and wear and tear on the machine is effected. On the upward movement of the sheave ii, when the tools are dropping the movement of the sheave ll toward the stationary sheave !5, results in what might be termed the sheave i1 getting away from the cable l3 much more rapidly than it would with the sheave i'l moving substantially straight up and down. The drop of the tools is therefore considerably more unrestricted and unhampered, thus resulting in a harder blow being struck and effectively increasing the drilling speed.

Such changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts as would occur to one skilled in the art are to be considered as coming within the spirit of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage-drum, a stationary sheave, a pair of beams pivotally mounted in said frame, said beams being angularly disposed in relation to each other, a sheave carried by said beams, a cable passing from said storage-drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, and means whereby said movable sheave is reciprocated upwardly and downwardly in a vertical plane, its path of travel being away from the stationary sheave on the down stroke and towards said stationary sheave on the up stroke.

2. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage drum, a stationary sheave, a pair of beams pivotally mounted in said frame, said beams being angularly disposed in relation to each other, a link connecting said beams, a sheave carried by said beams, a cable passing from said storage-drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, and means whereby said movable sheave is reciprocated upwardly and downwardly in a vertical plane, its path of travel being away from said stationary sheave on the down stroke and toward said stationary sheave on the up stroke.

3. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage drum, a stationary sheave, a beam pivoted in said frame in the region adjacent said stationary sheave, another beam pivoted in said frame below the pivot of said first mentioned beam, said beams being angularly disposed in relation to each other, a link connecting the free ends of said beams, a sheave pivoted at the junction of said link and the second mentioned beam, a cable passing from said storage-drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, and means whereby said beams may be reciprocated vertically.

4. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage drum, a stationary sheave, a beam pivoted in said frame in the region adjacent said stationary sheave, another beam pivoted in said frame below the pivot of said first mentioned beam, said beams being angularly disposed in relation to each other, a link connecting the free ends of said beams, a sheave pivoted at the junction of said link and the second mentioned beam, a cable passing from said storage-drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, and means whereby said beams may be reciprocated vertically, said means comprising a crank, a pitman connecting said crank and said first mentioned beam, a crank shaft and means for rotating said crank shaft.

5. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage drum, a stationary sheave, a pair of beams pivotally mounted in said frame, said beams being angularly disposed in relation to each other, a sheave carried by said beams, a cable passing from said storage-drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, means whereby said movable sheave is reciprocated in a vertical plane, its

path of travel being away from the stationary sheave on the down stroke and towards said stationary sheave on the up Stroke, and means whereby the pivot of one of said beams may be moved in relation to the pivot of the other of said beams so as to vary the stroke of said beams.

6. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage drum, a stationary sheave, a beam pivoted in said frame in the region adjacent said stationary sheave, another beam pivoted in said frame below the pivot of said first mentioned beam, a link connecting the free ends of said beams, a sheave pivoted at the junction of said link and the second mentioned beam, a cable passing from said storage drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, means whereby said beams may be reciprocated vertically, and means whereby the pivot of one of said beams may be moved in relation to the pivot of the other of said beams so as to vary the stroke of said movable sheave.

7. A well drilling machine having in combination a frame, a cable-storage drum, a stationary sheave, a beam pivoted in said frame in the region adjacent said stationary sheave, another beam pivoted in said frame below the pivot of said first mentioned beam, a link connecting the free ends of said beams, a sheave pivoted at the junction of said link and the second mentioned beam, a cable passing from said storage drum over said stationary sheave and under the sheave carried by said beams, means whereby said beams may be reciprocated vertically, and means whereby the pivot of said second mentioned beam may be raised or lowered so as to vary the stroke of said movable sheave.

8. A well drilling machine having in combination, a frame, a cable-storage drum,,a stationary sheave carried by said frame, a pair of beams pivotally mounted in said frame, said beams being anguiarly disposed in relation to each other, a sheave carried by said beams, a link connecting said beams, a derrick, a crown pulley carried by said derrick, a. cable passing from said storagedrum over said stationary sheave, under said sheave carried by said beams and over said crown pulley, drilling tools carried by said cable, said stationary sheave being positioned away from said derrick and said sheave carried by said 10 beams being positioned adjacent said derrick,

means whereby said sheave carried by said beams is reciprocated in a vertical plane, its path of travel being away from said stationary sheave on the down stroke and toward said stationary sheave on the up stroke, and means whereby the pivot of one of said pair of beams may be moved in relation to the pivot of the other of said beams to vary the stroke of the drilling tools carried by said cable.

, HOWARD H. ELMIRE. 

